The year is 1929. Pedro Flores, a Filipino immigrant, officially set up financing for his toy, the “yo-yo.” Big-time Chicago gangster Al Capone was arrested, and most notably, the United States stock market crashed, which would bring about the Great Depression. However, something else had occurred in the large border city of El Paso in the sweltering month of July.
Brothers Dempson and Denmon Lewis (the Lewis Brothers) traveled to El Paso to record four songs for the Victor Company in the old Baptist Church building. Denmon played the Washburn Guitar, and brother Dempson specialized in the Fiddle. The duo hit the scene with fast ragtime tunes in a ballroom. The recordings and activities of the Lewis Brothers are some of the first traces of music history in El Paso, Texas.
Now, in 2024, 95 years later, the music scene of El Paso has never been more diverse and ever-expanding, with many famous artists playing in the 915. With many local and bigger music venues, El Paso has been a city that nurtures and pushes the music scene in a positive direction.
Julian Saucedo is a UTEP Pharmacy student and the Keyboardist for the El Paso Indie Rock band Melancholy 10, Minerpalooza’s 2022 Battle of the Bands winner.
“I use music to contextualize, enhance, and resonate with my emotions when I’m overloaded with work or enjoying the calm in between,” Saucedo said. “I remember watching my brother’s band play back in 2012 and recognizing how the song at the time evolved, and I still hear some of the local bands of today pay homage to the golden era of indie music.”
Saucedo spoke about his experience playing music with Melancholy 10 in El Paso and the community’s response to their music.
“When melancholy 10 was frequently playing shows in 2022, I saw many venues such as The Range, the Lowbrow, and 501 Bar & Bistro work collaboratively with the bands and vendors to help support their art,” Saucedo said.
He says The Battle of the Bands brought awareness to local bands and gave the winners an opportunity to record their music at a studio.
As established musical acts of the borderland continue to flourish, the local downtown music venues like Lowbrow Palace do as well. Lowbrow Palace was established in 2011 and has hosted
much talent over the years and is uniquely known as the place where musicians are encouraged to play their own sound.
Ancient the Illfigure is an electronic Psych Rock band composed of Alex Huereca on Vocals, David Valles on Lead Guitar, Luis Renteria on Rhythm Guitar, and Ricky Dominguez on Drums. The band started when Huereca, fresh out of the military, was contacted by his friend and eventually temporary keyboard player and manager Albert to start a band. Like a fire to a tree, a team of talented strangers from all over the borderland area joined together, figuring out a sound they wanted to show El Paso and the world. One of their big songs, “Mauna Kea,” shows the creative strengths a band like theirs can bring, a sound with vibrant instrumentation and psychedelic-style vocals sprinkled about.
“The way I see it, I see ourselves like Freddie Mercury or Michael Jackson. They might have their rock theme, but every song is different,” Lead Guitarist Valles said. “Where you’re not seeing the same song over and over, we kind of make what comes out of all of us.”
Members like Renteria talks about growing up listening to a local station called “95.5 KLAQ” with his father and how he started getting close to music in that genre. Huerca says the closeness of cities to El Paso and the idea of the border contributes to the music scene.
“I think coming from a border opens the doors for multiple influences,” Huerca said. I remember growing up listening to all these Spanish artists, but I also liked the Black-Eyed Peas on the same radio. And we may not necessarily show it, but we’re a Mexican band, and we’re trying to embrace that as much as we can.”
Valles also spoke to the power of local music venues, like Lowbrow Palace.
“Music and the art scene are like the salt of the earth; they give taste to life and let you slow down a bit,” Valles said. Life is very fast-paced, and I feel like when you go to these venues and have new local music, you kind of just forget what’s going on in life.”
Although relatively new in creating their style and sound, the band knows the beautiful feeling of having their art connected with anyone whether on social media or locking eyes with someone feeling the groove of a song at a live show.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” Renteria said. “With media, you’re getting exposure with people who aren’t even there, and people from New Mexico or Las Cruces can hear about you and say, hey, I’m going to check these guys out in El Paso. It’s an amazing feeling when you’re playing in front of people in person, and they’re catching the vibes.”
The band says their participation in the Lowbrow Palace “Battle of the Bands” competition was one that came with many technical difficulties throughout their performance, but even then, they still managed to lock down the house. Drummer, Ricky Dominguez, is a teacher from San Elizario. Dominguez speaks to the sound of the band and says he gains support from his students when performing at the competition.
“That’s the cool thing about the mixture of culture here at El Paso; we all blend in together and are accepting of all the different kinds of music here. I had some technical difficulties, but some of my students were there, and I threw my drumsticks at them. So, I hope we start releasing more cool stuff and put out what we think is our sound to people.”
As many bands in El Paso begin their musical journey, other bands have found success in the area and continue to put out their unique sound. There is no better example than this than the funk, soul, and R&B group the Pie Sisters. The Pie Sisters are a musical outfit composed of four sisters (oldest to youngest): Jezreel “Jez” Lasala (Sweetie Pie), Joanna Casillas (Cutie Pie), Jasmine Lasala (Honey Pie), and Jessamine Lasala (Apple Pie). The group, each nicknamed for their unique personality, shines with their beautiful acoustic harmonies and varied lyrical writing.
The group is from an immigrant family whose parents and the oldest sister, Jez, came from the Philippines. The rest of the family soon grew up in El Paso and were introduced to music through their local church with their dad.
They say with much practice and the idea to form a band, the Pie Sisters officially started their music journey in 2019 and fully kicking the band off in 2021, booking their first gig at an El Paso artisan market. Carving a unique musical voice in El Paso.
Guitarist and singer Jez Lasala says the dynamic of having siblings as bandmates was unmatched because of their chemistry.
“They know all the major and minute details of your ins and outs, so when doing something as personal as music that requires extreme vulnerability, it allows us to tap into our individual vulnerabilities and lets us connect in that manner.”
“Even in our gigs, it’s easy for all of us to pick up on who is doing the melody, the harmony, and the singing part,” Jasmine Lasala said. “A lot of the time, we were just able to pick things up pretty fast, look at each other to sing a certain part, and kind of just go off from there.”
The sisters’ sound is ever-changing as they experiment with style and genre-blending. They also emphasize the lyricism of their songs.
“Our music and tastes are ever-changing, but a lot of it is lyricism,” Jez Lasala said. We started off acoustic from the beginning, and connecting with other incredible musicians has only enhanced and highlighted what we love, so R&B songwriting is our wheelhouse right now.
The Pie Sisters know that although sharing art with an audience is essential, it’s also important not to be disingenuous. The band knows their success is partly due to their incredible fans and appreciates the El Paso community.
“I think El Paso has been underestimated for a number of years. They see hubs like Austin, Houston, and Dallas,” Jez Lasala said. I honestly think it’s because of years of progression as people come and grow, and because of that, we are getting a myriad of cultures and heritages that aren’t just the borderland.
So, the growth of all these different ethnicities allows people to be introduced to different types of music that you don’t think of immediately when you think of El Paso. We see this with musicians starting in El Paso and expanding.”
The Pie Sisters thank their loving friends and family, especially their parents, who showed them love on their musical journey.
What connects all these bands in El Paso to the years past of the Lewis brothers is that the music stems from them. They play because that’s what their soul wants. Even with a huge fan following, the songs bring a community together. A borderland community whose heart will never lose its flame for musical art.
EN BREVE
Traducido por Yoali Rodriguez
La difusion y diversidad de la musica de El Paso representa y ofrece un espacio a varios artistas locales guiando la escena musical en una direccion positiva.
Julian Saucedo, estudiante de la escuela de Farmacologia en UTEP fue ex tecladista de la banda Melancholy 10 del genero indy-rock. En el tiempo que participo con la banda, Saucedo menciono que centros de eventos como The Range, Lowbrow Palace y 501 Bar apoyan a artistas locales.
La banda local de rock psicodélico, Ancient the Illfigure esta compuesto de Alex Huereca vocales, David Valles guitarra, Luis Renteria guitarra ritmica y Ricky Dominguez en la bateria. Renteria narra como crecio escuchando “95.5 KLAQ” con su padre y esto influencio a acercarse al genero de musica que ellos tocan hoy en dia.
La banda Pie Sisters dedican su musica incorporando sonidos funk, soul y R&B. El grupo esta compuesto de cuatro jovenes Jezreel “Jez” Lasala (Sweetie Pie), Joanna Casillas (Cutie Pie),
Jasmine Lasala (Honey Pie), y Jessamine Lasala (Apple Pie). Jez Lasala menciona como El Paso se a convertido en un centro cultural donde ritmos diferentes coexisten.
Lo que conecta a estas bandas es su pasion por la musica. Aun reconocidos o no, ellos saben que tienen el respaldo de la comunidad fronteriza, ya que esta representa el alma de nuestra cultura.
